Youth Empowerment Day Highlights Mental Health
- Alexis Moore-Jones
- Sep 9
- 6 min read
By Alexis Moore - Jones
Turning a Dream Into Reality
Having finally turned a dream into a reality, the One Purpose Love Foundation hosted its first annual “You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day” on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at the One Purpose Love x Genesis Legacy News Popup.
One Purpose Love Foundation planned this day to introduce youth in the South Suburbs to a powerful day of storytelling, healing, confidence-building, and creativity, in a place to focus on their mental health and gain coping skills they can use in everyday life.
The youth, ages 12-18, were broken into groups, identified by a colored wristband, and rotated between the 5 sessions being offered: How to Catch a Thought, Coping Kits, It's Okay to Ask for Help, Seeing Yourself, and Social Media & Mental Health.
Exploring the Space
Doors opened at 9:30, giving guests the chance to walk around and see what the event had to offer. Around every corner, there was something to do before the real fun began.
At the entrance, event goers were given a few goodies, a warm hello, and the opportunity to complete a survey for future programming. Right next to the survey table was a 360-degree camera booth.
The guests had the pleasure of dressing in glasses or fluffy boas while holding different signs to shoot a variety of videos. With the booth being open the entire event, the guests had to keep their eyes open to make sure they got their turn.
Nestled in its own quiet space within the main room, the “Arts & Expression” workshop offered guests a calming escape. Stocked with paint brushes, canvases, coloring books, and markers, it invited everyone to relax, decompress, and create something meaningful to take home.
Guests like Kagan Sheman spent a lot of time there before the event started. After hearing about the event from his mom, Sheman was excited to visit the Coping Kits Session, but until then, he found himself coloring as many pages as he could.
Tables, Resources, and Workshops
Those looking to fill their bags with more than paintings could make their way around the corner to the second room full of free goodies.
There was a snack bar with coffee, fresh popcorn, and a variety of fruit and granola bars to snack on. The main attraction was the three tables full of free items, all provided by One Purpose Love Foundation Owner, Nia Andrews.
Each table represented was one of her different businesses associated with Jones Publishing Enterprises. At the far end of the room was the JPEOLOGY table, which featured two JPEOLOGY candles, a memoir-guided journal, and a 40-day gratitude journal.
The second table focused on Youth Mental Health First Aid, which is a program that teaches learners how to recognize signs of distress in youth and how to respond with care. The table featured folders with information about the program itself, along with a parent resource kit offering tools, support, and safety plans to empower their youth’s mental health. T-shirts, pens, notebooks, figure spinners, and plush koalas were also up for grabs.
The last table was an informational table featuring documents and statistics surrounding suicide in children and adults, information about the One Purpose Love x Genesis Legacy News initiative, access to physical and digital copies of the One Purpose Magazine as well as their compassion report.
When the event began, the youth were instructed to go to a specific session based on their colored wristband. The goal was to give them tools to take home, but it was also to give them a chance to ask questions and have a real conversation with the facilitators and their peers.
The event facilitators were eager to start their sessions. Each group curated a specialized workshop to focus on aspects of mental health.
For example, How to Catch a Thought was centered around the idea of being able to catch negative thoughts or feelings as they come and finding ways to cope with them in the moment and in the future.
You Matter: Seeing Yourself stresses the idea that how you see yourself is how you feel and present yourself. By saying affirmations, finding ways to change the negative talk they have within themselves, the youth will be able to walk away with a higher sense of self-esteem and self-worth.
Workshop facilitator Marrissa Beauchamp had a wonderful time working with everyone and being able to share that message.
“It is great when our community comes together and provides services for the youth… It's extra beautiful when you're doing it for your community,” said Beauchamp.
Energy and Celebration
It may have had a slow start, but as the event went on, the energy and chatter in the room began to grow. Dancing, singing, laughing, and other interactions could be seen all over the room.
As the youth made their way through their session, they could be seen engaging more and more in talking amongst each other and actively participating in the workshops.
Around 12 was lunchtime. Guests could choose between cheese, sausage, pepperoni, and veggie pizza or a turkey, chicken, bacon, or veggie Panera Bread lunch box.
After the last round of sessions, the youth, facilitators, and parents were invited to the dance floor to participate in the Mind Over Matter Games, followed by a dance break with the DJ Soopaman Experience.
The announcer started a dance circle, leading everyone to flex their dance moves. Each song elevated the mood. Whether they were sitting down, standing up, or in the other room, everyone at the event could be seen moving to the music.
Since everyone was on the dance floor, it was only right to get a group picture. Everyone gathered tightly to make a lasting memory of the first of many Youth Empowerment Days.
Games, Sweet Treats, and Closing Moments
With the energy in the room at an all-time high, it was time to play a few Mind Over Matter games. The games were meant to instill a positive mindset in those who played. Participants were broken into three teams. Teams 1 and 2 featured the youth, and Team 3, aka Team Seasoned, featured the event facilitators and volunteers.
The first game they played was Mind Over Matter word search. Teams had a little over 1 minute to find all the words, with the fastest team being named the winner. It was a remarkably close game with each team finishing within a few seconds of each other. Team 3 took the first victory.
The next game wasn’t so easy. In relay race fashion, the teams were given a set of words in a specific order that they had to find on the whiteboards scattered across the floor. The first team to grab the boards in the correct order wins. The first round was more of a practice round because some people were a bit confused by the instructions.
Once the teams got a feel for how to truly play the game, the energy got intense. When the last word was called and the announcer gave the green light, players flew across the event floor. One after the other, teammates ran after the next board, hoping to beat the person beside them. The 30-second round felt like an eternity, but as the last person made it back to their group, a winner was called.
Team 3 won first place, Team 1 landed second place, and Team 2 got third place. This final round crowned Team Seasoned or Team 3 as the winners overall.
To celebrate the fierce competition, The Original Rainbow Cone ice cream shop had a cart waiting in the second room for the tired guests. Chocolate, raspberry lemonade, orange sherbet, and their very own Palmer House were just a few flavors they had to offer.
Guests were seen smiling ear to ear while enjoying their sweet treat. The most popular flavor was the raspberry lemonade, with most people getting a double or mixed scoop with that flavor.
The event ended with a moment of reflection and recognition to honor a member of the One Purpose Love board and reward three youth participants with gifting from a community partner.
After everyone gathered back in the main room, Andrews took a moment to honor board member, Janett Jones, with the first Founder's Circle Award, for the in-kind service she provided for staffing their first state-funded program.
Showered with applause, Jones accepted the award in tears and gave a small speech. She thanked her Andrews and enthusiastic colleagues while expressing her gratitude and surprise at receiving the award.
The Main Event was a raffle just for the youth gifted from We Are Family Enterprises, Inc. Three lucky winners got the chance to take themselves and 14 of their closest friends to the Main Event.
After the last name was drawn, the remaining guest stayed and talked for a bit until the event came it’s official end.
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